Japanese scientists have confirmed that the football found inside the Hayabusa probe after its seven-year space trip is from Chris Waddle’s World Cup semi-final penalty shoot out miss from Italia 90.

A statement from the country’s space agency said analysis of the ball retrieved from the craft’s sample canister revealed that it was indeed a twenty year-old Adidas Etrusco Unico.

After studying footage of the penalty kick and carrying out calculations based on the balls velocity and trajectory scientists are confident it is the ball from Waddle’s wayward spot kick.

Japan’s science and technology minister, Yoshiaki Takagi, told reporters, “Never in our wildest dreams to we believe that a mission to the asteroid Itokawa could result in such a discovery. We felt sure that this ball was lost to science forever.”

“This is the first mission ever to recover even a small piece of a ball from such a ridiculously bad penalty.”

Japan space probe

It is expected that analysis of the ball will take several years, as scientists seek to learn whatever they can from the piece of sporting memorabilia which has spent the last twenty years travelling through space.

Takagi continued, “This ball has been across our solar system, it has reached our asteroid belt, and come to rest millions and millions of miles from Bodo Illgners goal.”

“We will look closely at the evident we now have access to, and we are hoping it will answer some of the universe’s greatest questions.”

“Questions such as, can we prevent future asteroid collisions, is there life on other planets, and what the hell was Chris Waddle thinking.”